A femtosecond (fs) pulse duration is shorter than many physical/chemical characteristic times, such as the electron-photon relaxation time, which makes it possible to control electron dynamics. This paper reviews our recent progress which proposes to change electron dynamics (selective excitation/ionization) and electron densities/temperatures in materials to control the following properties and processes: 1) the transient (femtosecond-to-picosecond time scale), localized (nanometer-to-micrometer length scale) material properties, 2) the corresponding photon absorption process, and 3) phase change mechanisms, by manipulating fs pulse-train number/delay for high-precision micro/nanoscale manufacturing. © 2011 Materials Research Society.